"Account compromised" problem

[mario]

Recently there have been a number of users whose accounts have been locked by eBay after using Gixen. I no longer have any doubt that eBay has some background software that detects logins from different IP numbers (or from different browser footprints) in order to reduce fraud.

As a result - users started suspecting Gixen of "stealing their passwords", especially so after allegedly some eBay CSRs made malicious comments like "how do you think Gixen makes money" etc. This resulted in some users making forum posts "BEWARE GIXEN".

The problem can be solved by calling eBay and unlocking one's account, but for most users, only the thought of having their account compromised is already too much - the damage has been done.

In the coming days I will be making some changes. First, I am going to "copy" the users' browser footprint. This may result in some bids failing - as ebay may complain about the incompatible browser, etc. If this resolves the problem on its own - great. If not, I will have to re-consider the mirror server, and possibly leave it only as a backup option, e.g. mirror works and sends snipes only if the main server is down.

[Guest]

Hello,

I don't like the idea of having to call eBay up and having eBay mark my account as compromised.

Is there any settings to set the mirror to only bid if the main one hasn't worked or is that not set up yet?

Thanks

[mario]

The easiest way to achieve this is to set different sniping times (e.g. 8 seconds for main, 3 seconds for mirror).

[Guest]

That's exactly what I figured out after I posted.

Thanks for the fast reply.

[mario]

I thought about this again, and realized that login happens half a minute before actual snipe, and this may be the time ebay locks the account. So different sniping offsets may not help with this problem. I will see that I introduce "Disabled" option in offset times.

Note that this problem (locked account) is very rare.

[Guest]

I won't bother with different offsets then.

What I was hoping could happen is the mirror would check if the main server has placed the snipe and if not login and place the snipe. If the server needs to login 30 seconds before I guess it make the snipe pretty early.

Thanks for all the help

[rickyk4]

So Mario, you never followed up in this thread about how you fixed this problem. Or is it still a problem?

[Hubird]

I'm wondering the same thing...

[nickobec]

Just got a "MC010 TKO NOTICE: Compromised Account" email from ebay and had to change my password, painful process at that.

No unusual activity of my account just me and Gixen.

Been using Gixen for almost a year, close to 200 wins and no problems until now.

Lately I have been putting in the 1st bid on ebay.co.uk items from the browser, because some people's settings do not allowing bidding from overseas (Australia). Then setting up Gixen to put in the final bid at the end of the auction.

Last four wins as per above, all one on 1st bid, no need for Gixen to the rescue.

Thoughts, ideas, what do I need to do to avoid this again?

ps did notice gixen not showing last days bids, when I logged in with new password.

[mario]

It seems that eBay introduced some new anti-fraudster measures today, and that sniping is a collateral damage. Around 1.3% of Gixen users were affected by this today.

My advice is - change your password and keep sniping. It'll go away eventually.

Email me if you need a list of your previous snipes and don't forget to include your ebay username.

[nickobec]

Mario thanks for the explanation.

Just wrong time of year, about to head to other side of country, while my computer illiterate partner does most the ebaying. Hope it does not reoccur in the next couple of weeks.